


Sasuke can have some people he cares about survive, as a treat.

by IceBreeze



Series: Team 7 across the ages: A Role Reversal AU. [2]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Role Reversal, Gen, Generation Swap, Jinchuuriki Nohara Rin, Jinchuuriki Uchiha Sasuke
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-03
Updated: 2021-02-12
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:49:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23983342
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IceBreeze/pseuds/IceBreeze
Summary: “Amazing,” Sasuke said. “It’s like this team was hand picked to prod at old traumas.”“Kid, I hate to break it to you but you have so many traumas that a person can’t throw a stick in this Village without hitting one.”“Hey, I'm not that fucked up. Just a little rough around the edges.”Kurama snorted. “I live in your head; you can’t lie to me.”“Nonsense. If I can lie to myself, I can lie to you.”“You do a shit job at lying to yourself.”“I haven’t killed myself yet so actually I think I do pretty well.”In which Sasuke has to learn how to teach three small children, Obito learns that maybe he wasn't the Last Uchiha all along, Rin learns how to deal with the overgrown tortoise in her head, and Kakashi is a traumatized child even without a war under his belt.
Relationships: Hatake Kakashi & Nohara Rin & Uchiha Obito & Uchiha Sasuke, Kyuubi | Nine-tails | Kurama & Uchiha Sasuke, Other Relationship Tags to Be Added
Series: Team 7 across the ages: A Role Reversal AU. [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1125990
Comments: 45
Kudos: 264





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So this chapter has been sitting in my docs for a year and i decided you know what, fuck it, and so it is now greeting ao3. I hope y'all enjoy the sequel fic to the Sasuke Suffers AU.

The order of arrival is as follows: Kakashi arrives one minute before the deadline, hands stuffed into his pockets, looking as unruffled as can be. Obito and Rin both arrive 1 minute 55 seconds after, slightly dishevelled after running up the many flights of stairs between them and the roof; Obito was slightly out of breath, but Rin herself wasn’t, which was something she felt a little guilty about, considering it meant that he was the only one who was off-balance. Kakashi didn’t even look like he’d had to work for it, though Rin doesn’t know how he actually made it up- he’d ignored her when she’d tried to talk to him, and still ignored Obito’s shouting after him. 

(She wasn’t entirely sure how they’d managed to be a team, considering how Kakashi’s standoffishness annoyed Obito, but she supposed they’d just have to learn to work together. Somehow. Hopefully). 

Rin sat down next to Kakashi and Obito followed with only quiet grumbling under his breath, no doubt fidgeting under the considering stare of their Jōnin Sensei. Which- well. Rin couldn’t blame him, considering she too was uncomfortable. There was something about him that frightened her, and it wasn’t just his glare (though it was a frightful glare, enough that poor Kazuki-Sensei had dropped what he was holding after he’d poofed away) or his unfriendliness (he had the kind of irritated indifference that Kakashi probably dreamed of), no. It was the way he seemed to ooze danger, even as he lounged against the fencing on the roof, as if he’s ready to fight at the slightest warning; his hand is nowhere near his sword but part of Rin feels, in the frantic beat of her heart and the clamminess of her hands, that he could kill them all before they could even try to scream. 

_A predator_ , she thinks, as he studies the three of them, and it fits. Like a tiger lazing in the sun - utterly at ease in its power, disguised by a false lure of safety until you trip over it and find it’s too late. And beneath that there’s- something. A strange thread of something in his aura- _his chakra_ \- that raises goosebumps on her arms and feels so very wrong, so very menacing, so very- familiar. 

Inside, the monster shrieks, but the words are lost to her and all she can understand if a muddle of angerfearhatredANGER that makes her suck in a breath. It slams itself against the bars, hard enough that the entire cage rattles as if it might break, and she shudders before she can stop it. It gets her two looks, one of concern from Obito and one from Sensei which seems almost- thoughtful. Knowing, even, and that is a concept that is far from comforting. Obito opens his mouth, no doubt to ask her if she’s alright or something, but before he can their new Sensei finally speaks. 

“Good enough, I suppose, though for future reference it’s best to be exactly on time- that way if people die they can’t blame your absence for it.” He taps his fingers against the metal bar behind him, still watching them as if he’s not sure what to do with them or he’s trying to categorise their every twitch. “As if no doubt obvious, I was selected to be your Jōnin teacher; my commiserations.” 

“Commiserations?” Obito repeats, exchanging an alarmed glance with Rin, and even Kakashi looked mildly confused if she was reading him right. 

Their Sensei ignored Obito’s interruption dutifully, though his lips did seem to twitch minutely. “Your test is tomorrow- gather at Training Field 7 at 6am; if you’re late, it’s an automatic fail. Dismissed.” 

He was already moving, no doubt finished with them, and Rin felt something almost akin to panic at how abrupt it all was. Kakashi looked annoyed, as if it was all terribly underwhelming for him, but Obito was the one to actually act on it all, calling out only somewhat hesitantly: 

“Um, Sensei?” The flat stare that was turned on him had him quailing, but he continued on admirably. “Shouldn’t we introduce ourselves or something?” He paused, waiting for a response, but the all he got was that stare. “ I, uh- I mean, we all know each other, but you’re a… stranger.” 

For a very long, very uncomfortable moment Rin thought he might just walk away and ignore Obito, dismissing him as a dunce like so many adults do without actually seeing the brilliance underneath, but then the Jōnin lets out a breath that may well be a sigh. 

“Fine. You start then, Goggles.” 

Obito blanched- a feat considering how pale he already was- but he recovered admirably, not one to let things hold him down for too long: “Right- I’m Uchiha Obito! I like Rin, candy, and helping people. I don’t like people who say bad things about my family, and jerks,” he side-eyed Kakashi ofr that bit, before refocusing on Sensei. “And my dream is to be the Hokage!” 

Sensei’s mouth was drawn tight as he watched Obito, enough that Rin might’ve thought he was biting his cheek if it didn’t go against everything her little experience with the man had indicated, and for a moment his eyes almost seemed to be red. Red and black, she thinks, a little bewildered, but then he turns his head at her pointedly and they are only black. 

“I’m Nohara Rin,” she said, after a moments faltering. “I like Obito and my parents and birds. I don’t like-“ _the_ _monster in my head_ , she doesn’t say. She purses her lips and instead goes with, “cruelty. My dream...” _to be_ _a_ _writer,_ she doesn’t say. _To not be a_ _Shinobi. To be rid of curse. Not this, not this, not this._ “My dream doesn’t matter.” 

_Not_ _that anyone cares what I want_ _,_ she thinks, just a touch bitterly. _Not with the monster in my head._

Sensei gave her a lingering look, that same quicksilver consideration that he’d focused on her earlier, and she finds herself only able to hold it for a moment before she has to drop her gaze. Kakashi is the next one he turns to, spine rigid as always, and when he speaks his voice is carefully bland as if it was a mission report rather than a simple introduction. 

“Hatake Kakashi. My likes and dislikes are irrelevant. My goal is to become a model shinobi.” 

Their Sensei’s lips twitched downwards slightly, only to turn into a full blown frown when they all turned on him expectantly. There’s a moments pause where he seems to focus inwards, as if in deep consideration or talking to himself, before he shakes his head. 

“My name is Uchiha Sasuke,” is all he says. “Now, dismissed.” 

“Wha-“ Obito cried, shock in his voice that was reflected in Rin, but the Jōnin was gone in a whirl of leaves before he could even finish the word. There was a sort of stunned silence as the leaves fell to the ground, before Rin turned to look at Obito, mouth agape slightly; she knows as much as Obito does about this family of his- this clan that was massacred before he was even born. Killed by one of their own, Obito’s mother being the only one to escape unscathed, and with her death it was down to Obito. That had been what Obito had been told, and he had told her, and for all the research they had done and even their one time adventure into the now empty compound (a chilling experience Rin hopes never to repeat again), they have never been able to find anything to prove otherwise. Until today, that is. 

Obito was wide-eyed and pale, and when he spoke his voice wavered, quieter than she’s heard him in a long time: “Uchiha? But… they said I was the only one left.” The _did they lie?_ went unsaid, and even Kakashi looked vaguely uncomfortable in the background, for all that he didn’t quite seem to be able to understand their horror. 

Rin felt her heart ache in sympathy and the uncomfortable ball of helplessness that lodged its way into her chest at the lack of knowledge as to how to help her friend; there was so little she knew, in the world, and for all that she’s read a lot about medical ninjutsu, none of it included how to ease things like this. 

_(Though even if it did she wouldn’t be able to do it, she thought, then immediately shoved it down)._

“I don’t know, Obito,” she said finally, squeezing his hand with one of hers. “I just don’t know.” 

Sasuke has barely touched the ground of the lounge he’d transported himself to before he drops to his knees, eyes burning as they drag in too much chakra, mangekyo whirling into place. Each breath rattles in his lungs, shorter than the last, and he digs his nails into foreheads, pushing in until he feels the pinpricks of pain. 

**_“Ease up Kid, before you damage yourself,”_ ** Kurama barks, alarmed, but the blood is already leaking down his face like morbid tears. There are voices in the background, familiar ones, but Sasuke can’t focus on anything beyond the shock in Obito’s exclamation and that damning emotion in his eyes as Sasuke had revealed his name. ‘ _Betrayal_ ,’ he thinks, hysterically. _‘I betrayed him and Himeko_ _\- I betrayed family_ _._ _’_

**_“No you didn’t, it wasn’t your_** **choice** ** _-“_** but Kurama’s words fell on deaf ears. There’s a touch on Sasuke’s arm, someone kneeling in front of him that he can’t see through the blood, and his hand sparks electricity on reflex before he recognises the chakra. 

“You are in the living room of the house Tenten and I live in,” Ino told him, with the calm in such a situation that you could only develop from being in T&I. “You gave us matching daggers as a wedding gift. It is five in the afternoon. The weather is sunny. “ 

She continued in this vein until he was calm enough to deactivate his eyes, at which point she pressed a wet towel into his hands. Once his eyes were clean of blood, she smiled at him with the distinct lack of judgement that made her such a valuable confidant, and asked, “Just finished meeting your genin team, I take it?” 

He snorted darkly, and this was answer enough for her if the way her face twisted was any indication. They sat there in mutual quiet for a few moments, one side tired and the other side patient, before Sasuke finally said: 

“He didn’t know me.” It felt like placing a stone weight on the ground, a revelation of vulnerability that a lot of Shinobi would scoff at, but this was Ino and she was one of the people that anchored him to this village; if there was anyone he could tell, it was her. “I knew that he was so young when I stopped being able to see him, and that it was deemed dangerous to tell him, but- I still-“ 

“You’d still had hope,” she finished, and he gave a jerky nod in response. Her lips twisted into something more rueful. “It’s natural to feel hurt, Sasuke, just like it’s natural for Obito to feel upset as well. Things won’t always be like this- he’ll learn, and so will you. Think of it as a new beginning.” 

“I abandoned him.” 

“Perhaps,” she agreed. “But not by choice, and whilst it is his right to be upset over it, it’s not going to be something he’ll hate you for. If he’s anything like you or his mother then he’ll be a smart kid, and he’ll soon come to understand it all.” 

“And if he doesn’t?” 

“Then we’ll deal with it when that comes.” 

**_“Damn right we will,”_ ** _Kurama grumbles._ **_“Don’t think I won’t bite him.”_ **

_“You’re in my head, how would that even work?”_

_“_ **_I’ll figure it out; I’m wiser than you, after all.”_ **

_“Older doesn’t necessarily mean wiser.”_

**_“Brat.”_ **

_“Fossil.”_

She grinned, familiar enough with him to know when he was arguing with the voice in his head. “My optimism vs. your pessimism: who will win?”

He snorted, and she took that as a victory, coming to a stand. “Come on,” she urged. “Chouji made us cake- you can eat TenTen’s share.” 

“Won’t your wife be upset about that?” he asked, with a raised eyebrow, but took the hand she offered him anyway and let her pull him up. The smirk she gave him was wicked, almost a more mature version of the one she had whenever she and Sakura were having one of their friendly competitions. 

“It’s revenge,” was all she said, cheerful, and Sasuke let out another huffed laugh as she began to tug him towards the kitchen; it was a welcome distraction, and Chouji’s cake is to die for. Literally- one bar fight over the last piece actually ended up in someone dying. 

_(_ _After dinner she wheedles him into playing a game of cards so he ends up staying long enough for Tenten to come home. Her greeting to him is a smile and a slap on the shoulder, a kiss to Ino, and then she goes into the kitchen. The ensuing reaction was a masterpiece that had Ino wheezing with laughter until Tenten herself eventually began to laugh, slumping over Ino’s lap with exaggerated moans of the cruelty of her wife; Sasuke had it all recorded on Sharingan, engraved into his mind alongside all the memories that haunted his nightmares._

_When Tenten found out what had happened, concern was in the creases of her frown. “Damn, that really, really sucks,” is her sage words, and Sasuke laughs at it despite himself._ _Ino slaps her on the knee, but she’s smiling, their shoulders pressed together; they look the picture perfect image of serenity, a happy family, and it eases something in Sasuke. Reminds him that shinobi can have happiness without losing it, and that maybe he was just the odd one out. That maybe it will turn out differently for this Team 7- it will turn out better._

_‘If they pass, it will turn out better for them,’ he thinks, and it’s a vow, a promise- and this time, it’s one he’ll keep if it kills him. Though first they have to pass the test)._

_(That night he dreams Himeko is on the ground beside his parents, crows pecking out her eyes as a scream leaves her lips. A door opens and there is a cut off cry behind him; he whirls around to find Obito standing there, hands over his mouth._

_“How could you, Sasa,” he says with Itachi’s voice, and Sasuke looks down. There is blood on his sword, eyes in his hands, and when he opens his mouth to scream all that comes out is laughter._

_He wakes up_ _with the Sharingan swirling in his eyes and his sword in his hands. It is 1am. He doesn’t fall asleep again that night)._


	2. Chapter 2

Kakashi was the first one to make it to the Training Grounds, as expected. Obito was always late and Rin tried to avoid being too early because she found the waiting awkward, whilst he’d made a habit of turning up to things early so he could get some training done whilst he waits; it’s what a Shinobi would do, and so it’s what he will do. Uchiha Sasuke is a wild card that Kakashi knows very little about beyond the fact that he must be strong and he was apparently related to that idiot Obito, and Kakashi had expected him to turn up early considering how much emphasis he’d put on being punctual, but there was no trace of him in sight. The fact bought a slight pang of disappointment, because Kakashi has learnt the rule book off by heart and he’d thought that Uchiha Sasuke would be the same, but he shakes it off; a Shinobi must not let emotions get in the way.

Kakashi spends the next hour training with his summons, the only background noise the occasional screech of a hawk overhead. At ten minutes before the deadline Rin turns up, dragging Obito with her hand in his, the both of them talking to eachother in hushed voices as they cast their eyes around. When they notice Kakashi they both twist, Rin affecting a smile that can’t quite hide the anxiety bubbling beneath it and Obito’s frown is filled a grimness that has nothing to do with Kakashi. They’re practically vibrating with nervous energy, and he doesn’t think either of them slept much last night.

Not that he cares, though. Teammates are merely another tool for the mission; their wellbeing means nothing to him.

The three of them remain like that, Kakashi continuing his training as he ignores them both whilst the others train; any attempts they might have made at conversation with him would have been rebuffed, so perhaps it was for the best that they didn’t try. The tension only climbs higher and higher with every second that passes, and it reaches a shuddering peak when- at 6am on the dot- Uchiha Sasuke appears.

“Alright then,” he says, one hand resting on his sword, the other loose at his side, “the test is really very simple: if you get a bell from me, you pass.”

He held up the pair of bells and let them clink together to indicate his point. Kakashi thinks it sounds like a reasonable test- prove your ability against a Jōnin and only the best will pass- but his teammates seem to disagree, for they are both looking at each other with a good deal of confusion. After some kind of quiet communication going on between Obito and Rin, Rin huffs an annoyed breath and says:

“But there’s only two bells.”

It’s a fair question, Kakashi supposes, though he can’t quite see the importance of it; clearly the teams were only a way of weeding out the weak. Sensei seems to share some sort of similar thoughts along this line, given the bluntness of his response.

“And?”

Rin seems uncomfortable, given the way she’s squirming. “Then… what happens to the one who doesn’t get a bell?”

“Figure it out,” Sensei says, flatly. He raises an eyebrow at them as he secures the bells to his weapons belt. “You’re ninja, aren’t you?”

And there’s really nothing anyone can say to that. Sensei surveys them for a moment longer. “Anymore questions?” he asks, and upon receiving a negative, nods. “Then go; you have until noon.”

They go.

Predictably, Obito and Rin work together whilst Kakashi goes it alone. Also predictably, none of them are able to even graze the bells, though they do make highly admirable attempts, if by admirable Sasuke means they’re slightly better than his team was when they were eight and performed their own bell test (all three of them tried to go it alone and if it hadn’t been for the war, Minato probably wouldn’t have let them pass; as it were, his hands were tied as much as Sasuke’s are right now). Perhaps unpredictably (at least if you’re an eleven to twelve year old who had no knowledge of the many agendas in a hidden village, or a civilian or one of the more ignorant shinobi), Sasuke does not fail them despite the fact it would be well within his rights to do so. They are unqualified by his standards, after all, and normally a Jōnin would have full control over what to do with their assigned team, but Sasuke’s life has never been normal; he knows full well that the Sandaime- and, for that matter, the council- would not allow him to fail them, no matter what is said or done.

(Kurama snorted, tails flicking lazily from side to side: **_“I said you should just eat them.”_**

“That would give me indigestion,” Sasuke told him. “And besides, it’s not like it would do much to alleviate all the crap in my life.”

**_“Kid, nothing is going to do that; there’s so much crap in your life it looks like Gyūki had diarhea again.”_ **

“Okay firstly: rude. Second… you can get diarrhoea?”

**_“…”_ **

“Oh fuck, if you’ve done a shit inside my soul-“

**_“I can crush you with my paw, you little shit-“_ **

“Not from in there you can’t.”

 ** _“Just you watch me-“_** )

It’s tempting, really- to just do it, dump the information on the Sandaime’s desk, and escape this blasted hole- but he doesn’t. He owes it to Himeko and Obito, at least, for all that it’s likely to be an unmitigated disaster. He owes it to them to at least try.

So try he does.

The trio sit in front of him, bruised and frustrated, and he resists the urge to stick his hands in his pockets. Says, “You need a lot of work, both as a Team and Individuals- yes, even you Kakashi, don’t give me that look. We’ll gather here at 6am each day and train for three hours before going off on missions. Three days a week training will be done as a team, the other three will be individual; I’ll spend an hour working with each of you and those who aren’t being trained at the time can spar.”

“What about Sundays, Sensei?” Rin asked.

“Mm,” he smiled with grim amusement. “You’ll find out.”

Obito had been apprehensive for the whole day, the nervous energy building up and up and up from the moment he learned his Sensei’s full name. There’d been no release for the tension, none at all, and for all that he and Rin had done all the research they could from what little clan related reading material his mother had left him, there had been nothing about an Uchiha Sasuke in it; there had been no answers for him to find, and the flow could only build.

_(He’d even thought about going straight up to the Hokage to demand answers, but Rin had talked him out of it. “If he hasn’t told you before, then he’s not going to tell you know,” she’d said fiercely, and for all that he’s not entirely how much of that is reason and how much of it is the strange secret she has that inspired her own dislike of the man, he trusts her more than anyone. So he held off, for all that his thoughts felt like a crescendo beating at his skull and he was restless with the how’s and the what’s and the why why why why why-)_

So even excluding the thought of a test (he hates tests!), he was restless, but add that in and the result was a dam ready to burst. And he held on as best as he could- worked with Rin in the test when Bakashi stalked off on his own, both of them doing their best (which wasn’t good enough, they didn’t even manage to touch the bells let alone get one), sat patiently through Sensei’s instructions (to the point, like he was about as enthusiastic about this as a Nara was about doing anything)- but the moment Sensei finished talking, the moment he began to turn in a way that Obito knew meant he was about to do the vanishy thing-

The dam burst. He lunged to his feet, and yelled, “Wait!” Rin and Kakashi both startled, looking at him with confusion whilst Kakashi started to murmur something that was no doubt insulting, but Obito wasn’t paying any attention to them. No, he was entirely focused on Sensei, who had turned to give him a level look, his mouth turned down slightly into something that could be surprise, could be annoyance, could be something else. Inspite of that, though, he was giving all of his attention to Obito, and Obito felt a sudden surge of nervousness in the face of it. He felt like how he remembers feeling when he was still being taken care of by Hana-Obasan and she would listen to him like every word he said was valuable.

But he needed answers; if he didn’t get something, he wasn’t sure what he would do. He needed to know, and so far it seems like Sensei is the only one who can tell him. So he took a steadying breath, and said:

“I want the truth: who are you? If you are also of my clan, why was I told I was the last one alive? Why did you never come forward? Why-“ he took a deep breath, swallowing back tears. “Why did you let me believe I was alone?”

There was a weighted silence that dragged across several moments, before Sensei ordered: “Nohara, Hatake, you’re dismissed.”

Kakashi leaves without a backward glance, whilst Rin pauses to squeeze Obito’s hand before she follows him. Sensei waits until both of them are out of sight before he looks Obito in the eye, and says: “Yes, we are of the same clan. Your mother was my cousin.” Obito sucks in a breath that feels like nails in his lungs, it feels like hurt, it feels like hope (he had family all this time but he didn’t know, they never told him, how could they never tell him). “And that is all I can tell you now.”

And that- that caused something hot and bitter to surge up inside Obito, something a little like bile, a lot like fire to fill his lungs and burn his tongue. “What do you mean?” and he was almost shouting now. “I deserve to know after all these years of being lied to! I was all alone and you never told me otherwise, why will you deny me it even now?” He was breathing hard, anger and hurt making it hard to see, but Sensei bore it all with a stillness that was just a little too jagged.

Sensei breathed in, and out. “I cannot tell you right now,” he said, slowly, each word ground out like they were annoying him to say; Obito wasn’t sure whether the annoyance was at him or someone else. “Because if it makes it to the Hokage’s ears that I did, he will haul me in for insubordination.”

Obito blinked, and it felt like he was standing on unsteady ground, like the world around him was beginning to crack and he didn’t know what to trust. “What,” and it wasn’t quite a question. Then, because for all that he might not be a genius he was still fairly quick: “The Hokage doesn’t want me to know?”

The words felt like a betrayal to everything he knew, but Sensei flicked his eyes to the trees like he was sensing for something before staring Obito straight in the eye. “Yes,” he said, and for all that Obito wanted to hate him (should hate him, logically), wanted to dismiss him as a liar and a bastard- he couldn’t. Hana-obasan had always told him that people’s eyes were the only thing that could never truly lie, and in Uchiha Sasuke’s all Obito can find is sincerity. He slumps, mind reeling with so many thoughts and feelings that it hurts, and for a long time the two of them just stand in silence.

Then: “Alright,” Obito says. “I’ll accept that for now. But you have to promise me that you’ll answer me some day. You promise me, you hear?” He glared at Sensei, who met it evenly. “You owe me the truth.”

“I promise,” Uchiha Sasuke said. “I’ll tell you everything when we’re not in the Village.”

A moment passed, followed by another and another, both of them holding eye contact as they search for different things in the other. And then, Obito smiles, bright and mostly sincere: “Alright then. Thank you, Sensei; I’ll see you tomorrow!”

He’s running before Sasuke can manage a response, legs pumping with a need to get away and sort out his thoughts (Rin will help him- she’s good at things like this). He only pauses to glance back once, as he reaches the edge of the training field; Sasuke is still standing in the same spot, watching Obito leave with heavy eyes and a heavier heart.

(Were Obito a sensor he would feel the way the two tones to Sasuke’s chakra suddenly became more pronounced, the roiling sea of emotion churning below there, the ANBU with a tanuki mask who drops down from the trees to place a hand on Sasuke’s arm- but alas. He is not, and so he notices none of this).


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is the last of the chapters i have prewritten so like, we're into no mans land from here. hope you enjoy.

It is 05:59 on a Sunday, their first day of training, and Obito is nowhere to be seen. It’s irritating, much in the same way everything to do with Obito is, and Kakashi once again laments that he wasn’t able to escape the hell that is genin teams. Alas, being a genius could only get you so far, and every time Kakashi had petitioned the Hokage to let him skip this step the old man had waved him away.

“Having a team will be good for you,” he had said, like this was some kind of appointment in the hospital.

Well, Kakashi had a team now, and he wasn’t seeing how it was good for him. Nohara was here on time at least, but she kept looking at him, eyebrows furrowed like she was trying to figure out how to talk to him. Kakashi didn’t want to talk to people. Talking to people was a waste of time at best and a slippery slope into getting attached at worst. Talking to people meant you got to know them, and Kakashi didn’t want to get to know people. He just wanted to clear his name, to be the model shinobi that will shake off the legacy Hatake Sakumo left behind.

Why get attached when they were probably going to die soon, anyway?

06:00, and Sensei appears in a whirl of leaves. His hair is piled at the back of his head in a bun, forehead protector around his arm like it was an afterthought to put it on, and he looks over the two of them carefully. There’s a twitch to his eyebrow when he only finds two of his three students, and Kakashi feels a brief flash of vindication at the fact it’s probably annoyance.

 _Ha_ , he thought, _you pissed off Sensei, you imbecile._

“Where’s Obito?” Sensei asked, like he wasn’t sure he wanted to hear the answer. Granted he sounded like that a lot of the time he talked, so it didn’t really mean much, but still. Obito was probably in the doghouse today, and for all that Kakashi is a genius, he is also child and he is allowed to be petty.

Nohara fidgeted, not meeting Sensei’s eye’s when she said, “He’s probably got delayed again.”

“Again?”

“Yes, he… tends to stop to help whoever he comes across and turns up late to everything as a result.”

An understatement. In all their years at the Academy, Obito had made it on time exactly once, and that was because Aburame-Sensei had personally gone to get him to make sure he didn’t miss the exams.

Sensei sighed, looking into space for a moment like he was having some kind of internal vent. He did that a lot, come to think of it. Kakashi hoped it wouldn’t be an encumbrance on the battlefield. “Right, then todays first team building exercise is this: fetch Obito.”

“What?”

“Go, shoo,” he waved his hands. “The two of you have to work together as a team to find and bring Goggles here.”

“But why should we help the Dead last?” Kakashi demanded, indignant.

“Because you’re a team. Because I said so. Because if he’s not here we can’t start training. Take your pick. Think of it as a mission if it makes you feel better, but go.” And then, with a pause, “And from now on, the two of you are responsible for getting him here on time. Both of you- and that includes you, Kakashi. For every minute he is late – and if I learn that you didn’t work together- then that’ll be an hour of Boot camp with Lee and his team.”

Kakashi had no idea who that was, but Nohara shivered and that probably meant it wasn’t a good thing. Sensei looked at him then, and smirked.

“I’m sure your Eternal Rival would delight at the chance to train with you.”

Horror dawned on Kakashi as he remembered the image of Gai with a green jumpsuit on, and how he’d waxed poetry about how ‘it was Lee-sensei’s idea’ and ‘he’d never met someone so full of the Fires of Youth.’ He exchanged a wide eyed glance with Nohara, and Sensei clapped his hands meanly.

“The mission starts now. Go.”

They went. 

Finding Obito is an experience. For all that Nohara appears to be very close to him, she lacks a way to track him, so they have to rely on Kakashi’s summons. The scent is caught pretty quickly, so by all means it should be easy to find him. Unfortunately, Obito seems unable to stay still, so they end up chasing him halfway across the village before finding him- where he has stopped to help an old lady with her bags. He seems normal again, and Kakashi will never admit to being relieved- that tension that had been around him and Sensei yesterday was weird, and Obito had been acting weird. Not an idiot, almost, and Kakashi’s world was too neatly organised for someone like Obito to be upsetting it with his personal problems.

“Rin,” Obito said, both delighted and surprised. And then, with a frown, “Bakashi? What are you doing here?”

“Finding you, Dead Last,” Kakashi snaps. “Sensei won’t start without us all there.”

“Oh, I- uh.. am I late?”

“Yes.”

“Oops.”

Nohara sighed. “I’ll come and get you in the mornings, Obito.”

He laughed sheepishly. “Thanks Rin.” And then, hesitantly: “Is Sensei mad at me?”

“Yes,” Kakashi deadpanned at the same time Rin said, “I honestly can’t tell.” She shot him a Look, which Kakashi met neutrally, before she turned back to Obito. “He’s- difficult,” and that seemed to be the only kind of description she could think of, though the way her nose scrunched up implied she didn’t feel it was accurate. Kakashi couldn’t argue with it- he still doesn’t understand why they couldn’t have just started training with those present on time. What difference would Obito make?

They all head back to the training grounds solemnly, to find Sensei standing there waiting for them, talking to a man with a fur hood. An Inuzuka, Kakashi’s mind supplies, and a Jōnin- he recognises the pair as one of those standing at the front of the classroom. The man seems cheerful, animatedly talking about something with one arm around Sasuke and the other gesturing as Sasuke grunts and snorts in feedback. In the background are three shapes Kakashi vaguely recognises as his classmates, though they all seem to be fighting… a giant white dog? And some kind of bird, if birds can get that big?

Summons, Kakashi thinks, though he’s not too sure- generally speaking summons are a clan thing, contracts handed down from mentor to student or parent to child, and Uchiha Sasuke doesn’t have a clan. Can’t have- he’s learnt all about the clans in the academy and the books he’s been able to hunt down, and the mentions of the Uchiha are all from decades ago. They must have dwindled, like the Hatake and the Nohara, and so the man must have been raised as practically a civilian. It would explain Obito- another bastard child scattering the bloodline further on the wind, not close enough relatives to justify them being close. In short, it’s unlikely that Uchiha Sasuke has summons unless the man stole them. The birds could be the Inuzuka’s, though it would be rather an eccentric choice of summon for a member of a clan who are practically dogs themselves.

Unfortunately, neither of his teammates seem to pick up on this kind of train of thought, for their plebeian minds are caught on more trivial matters. Like-

“Oh my God,” Obito whispers, sounding vaguely terrified. “Sensei is smiling.” Beside him Rin lets out a wheeze that might be agreement or might just be that she can’t quite breathe probably. It’s true- Uchiha Sasuke is indeed smiling, bearing the Inuzuka’s touch with a fond amusement that suggests familiarity, and just then the Inuzuka’s focus lasers in on them. He stares at them all a moment, eyes piercing like a dog’s teeth in someone’s throat, and even Kakashi feels the slightest hint of discomfort- like he’s faced with the alpha of another pack who is leagues above him. Obito swallows audibly, and though Rin doesn’t look affected by the Inuzuka, there’s something a little discomforted in her eyes as she looks at Sensei.

But then the Inuzuka grins and calls, “So these are the unlucky ones?”

Sensei grunted an affirmative, flickering his gaze between all of them before finally settling on Obito. “Congratulations, you passed step one,” he said, no sincerity to be found there. “Now why were you late in the first place?”

Obito’s shoulders hunched and he laughed nervously. “I really tried to be on time! But there was a cat stuck in a tree and then a kid lost his mother and an old lady dropped her shopping bags and-“

“You were too much of a bleeding heart to just walk past?” Sensei filled in, voice as dry as sand. Obito shrunk even further down if that was possible, and Sensei eyed him like he wasn’t quite sure what to do with this. There was still something lingering between them, some kind of weight that Kakashi wasn’t quite privy to, and it seemed like neither Uchiha quite knew what to do with it, but eventually Sensei just sighs. “Then from now on it’s a team responsibility to ensure everyone shows up on time. That includes you, Kakashi- if you try to leave it to Rin, I will make a schedule and I will make sure you get the most shifts on said schedule.”

Their cries of, “What?!” are probably the most synchronised they’ve ever been. Sensei seems entirely unimpressed whilst the Inuzuka beside him seems like he’s struggling not to laugh.

“Why do I have to waste my time on him,” Kakashi demands.

“Because you’re a team, and that means that like it or not, you have to work together.” Sensei’s eyes seem to flash red as he stares at Kakashi, though it could just be a trick of the light. “Am I clear, Kakashi?”

“Yes sir,” he grinds out resentfully, under the watchful eye of two genin and two Jōnin.

“If it makes you feel better, think of it as a training exercise; you get to practise your tracking,” the Inuzuka offers cheerfully. Kakashi gives him a flat stare that is only a hairsbreadth from being a glare but if anything this just seems to amuse the man more.

“Speaking of training,” Sensei says, a glint in his eyes, and if Kakashi were even a smidgen less disciplined, he would have shuddered.

“You know,” Kiba says, thoughtfully, “It’s kind of anticlimactic to see just how much they suck.”

Sasuke grunts in acknowledgement, and Kiba doesn’t even have to look at him to know the Sharingan is recording every second of the fight in front of them to go over later for planning out just how to deal with their many, many failings. Which, okay- perhaps that’s a little unfair. Team 7 are good for their year group- probably better than Kiba’s own genin, who are a rather sad bunch at the moment- but that’s it; they fight like you’d expect a 12 year old (or, in the Hatake’s case, an 11 year old because apparently the Village is still trigger happy when it comes to geniuses) to fight. Sloppy and raw and poorly dealt, so many holes that had the war still been on Kiba would have been surprised if they’d made it past their first mission. If any of the year had, in fact- his own Team are all a little like lumps of metal that have yet to be carved into kunai, Shikamaru had dubbed his Team as troublesome with more vitriol than he usually uses (which is probably a fair assessment, considering how he gets one of the Hokage’s grandsons in that group), and though Lee’s Team is probably a going to be frightful given his general Lee-ness there’s little doubt that they are pretty much the same too.

It’s kind of disappointing, really, to see how much the skills have dropped- he’s not sure if they’ve adjusted the teaching so the turnout has been affected as a result or if his own generation was just an anomaly given how most of them graduated young. Across the field, one of Sasuke’s clones explode in a burst of electricity and the mini Uchiha falls back with a yelp, the stumble enough for Akamaru to pin him to the ground- a signal that this is the eighth round the genin have lost. All three of them get back into position, the Hatake seeming to be scolding the mini Uchiha whilst the Sanbi girl plays mediator, and that- that is another thing that Kiba finds weird. Because for so many years Sasuke had wanted to be able to be with his Godson and yet, now that he finally can it’s- well, it’s too late, isn’t it? The kid’s twelve now, grown up enough that he’s likely not going to take kindly to any long lost relatives swanning up, and it’s only Sasuke who remembers how things should have been.

All this assignment is really doing is rubbing in Sasuke’s face exactly what it is he was denied, and if there’s anything Kiba’s learnt from spending years in a ANBU with the man, it’s that Sasuke doesn’t deal with loss well. He’s the poster boy for poorly adjusted mental health, something that’s pretty obvious to anyone who knows how to look past the well developed shields, and Kiba worries about him; Sasuke’s the kind of person who needs people he can care for and be cared for by in return, and Kiba thinks that- as one of the more emotionally well adjusted ninja in Konoha- he’s well within his boundaries to be fussing over him.

(He, Ino and Chouji compare notes frequently, all being the ones who seem to be leading the efforts to keep their surviving friends from having breakdowns. Unsurprisingly, the only one at real risk is Sasuke, but he keeps them busy enough that it’s a full time job).

And looking at Sasuke now, he can see that it’s taking it’s toll: he can’t hide the tightness to his jaw or the way every now and then his scent spikes with various choice emotions (or, on occasions that have Kiba wrinkling his nose in spite of himself, the acidic stench of the Kyūbi’s chakra).

So he asks, quietly enough that any eavesdroppers would struggle to catch it over the sound of fighting (because he can smell the cold metal and old blood of ANBU nearby): “How are you finding it, with Obito?”

Sasuke’s shoulders stiffen, and he looks at Kiba, looks away. The seconds tick away with no response and Kiba gives him the time patiently, knowing full well that if Sasuke doesn’t want to talk about it he won’t and Kiba wouldn’t push. Eventually, Sasuke lets out a heavy breath. “It’s- difficult. He wants the truth and I want to give it to him, but the Hokage…” He doesn’t elaborate, and Kiba doesn’t need him to; he already knows. Ino became the Head of T&I after her Father moved his focus onto the Yamanaka clan and that means she has access to a lot of information on the Village. This includes a the council’s policies, such as the declaration that the true fate of the Uchiha should remain obscured from the new generations. That, paired with what Sasuke had told him of the orders he’d received in terms of classification, means he has a pretty clear picture of what issues are being faced here.

There wasn’t really anything he could say- not now, at least, what with the observers nearby and the Two teams of genin being soundly a few meters away. Later he could offer advice or a listening ear as Sasuke vents from being the safety of privacy seals, could discuss loopholes with Shikamaru and Tenten, could figure out how they can sidestep this without being hauled in for treason- but that is for later. For now, he simply presses his shoulder to Sasuke’s in solidarity and feels the man relax minutely against him. They stand there like that for a good fifteen minutes, watching as Sasuke’s hawks and Akamaru alternate in which Team they’re going to spar with this time, before Kiba asks:

“Should we stop them, now?”

And Sasuke simply snorts.

(The Teams make it through two more rounds before they stop, collapsing to the ground exhausted, and the session is called to an end. Sasuke lets them rest for half an hour before he begins to corral them home, Kakashi and Obito both having to be carried whilst Nohara was the only one able to walk on her own two feet.

Kiba watches the four of them leave like that, and finds himself struck by a flash of the same scene with a different Team 7, a blonde Jōnin carrying a sleeping girl and Uchiha whilst the orange son drags his feet alongside them.

Kiba watches them and tries not to think of a family long since torn apart).

**Author's Note:**

> My tumblr is [@polyhymina.](http://polyhymina.tumblr.com/)
> 
> My twitter is[@littlemisswrit3.](https://twitter.com/littlemisswrit3)


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